#ThrowbackThursday – Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup

Yo yo! It’s that time of the week again, #ThrowbackThursday is here once more. And today it’s a childhood special. So Grab your wand and broom you young wizards and witches, because we’re going back to Hogwarts! Harry Potter was a massive part of a lot of peoples lives whether it was the books, the films or the mediocre tie-in games, Harry and Co. were very much present in a lot of childhood’s…

There were two stand out Harry Potter games for me. One was Quidditch World Cup, and the other was Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The only reason I liked Prisoner of Azkaban was that it had free-roam, I love me some free roam. And you could also fly on your broom around the grounds or even on the back of Buck Beak, It was all very pleasant. But enough about that. We’re here to talk about the beautiful game, the one that has the power to bring countries together, the one that has seen fierce rivalries. I’m talking about foot…Quidditch. One of the coolest things to come out of Harry Potter was the magical worlds number one sport.

The game of Quidditch got it’s own stand alone title in October 2003 and what a game it was. You first start by picking a Hogwart House to play as in the Hogwart Championship, which once won you would progress to the World Cup. In the World Cup you select one of 9 International Teams, you could choose from: England, USA, Japan, Germany, France, Spain, Nordic Team, Australia and Bulgaria. Each team had special moves that varied from team to team and would represent the country, for example Bulgaria was very Brute-ish and tough whilst Japans was very quick and precise. Each International team also had a home stadium, again reflective of the team, England’s was very pristine and set in a castle, whilst Australia was set in the out back where red rock would make up the outline.

The game itself was very well made and I can remember playing again and again, as different teams to test out all the different play styles and finishing moves. Essentially it was a great Harry Potter game that was different to the other movie tie-in titles. Another point which I’ve really only realised is that the game was made by EA who as we all know are rather good at making sports games.

This is one of those nostalgic titles for me as it really does bring back great memories, and it’s a pleasure to be able to write about it in a totally different way nearly 10 years since it came out. Harry Potter: Quidditch World Cup was available for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Gamecube, PC and even Game Boy Advance. I played it on PS2 all those years ago and what a game it was and what a #ThrowbackThursday this has been.

Did you play HP: Quiddich World Cup all those years ago? If so let me know your thoughts of it in the comments below!